Quote:
Originally Posted by park123
Did anyone notice that Boston for example is less of a big deal than perhaps 20 years ago? It's still a wealthy, large metro with amazing institutional assets, and has maybe the most polished urban core its size outside of Europe. But I don't know if it's just me, but I don't hear about Boston very much anymore. In the broader culture (outside of sports of course), and for that matter on this forum, where you would guess it would be pretty popular.
What changed? Any other metros like this? Casually looking back, I get the sense that Montreal was a lot more culturally prominent before the 2008 recession than after. Chicago also seems like it kind of went into a funk after 2008. I wonder why?
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I think that cities can also drop on some radars while at the same time ascend on others.
For example, if I go by the age group you are in (based on other posts) the Montreal prominence you are referring to pre-2008 is probably related to the rise of indie rock bands like Arcade Fire around that time.
I live in Quebec so Montreal will never fall off the radar for me, and I am aware of Arcade Fire and the scene due to proximity, but that alone wouldn't put another city further afield on my radar.
OTOH I am a sports fan and I know lots of people are as well, and I think Montreal losing the Expos resulted in the city losing a bit of prominence in the U.S. While at the same time Toronto got a boost as they not only kept the Blue Jays but also got the Raptors. Someone mentioned Hartford and the Whalers. That city basically ceased to exist in my mind when their NHL team left.
While the scene has not completely dried up, Montreal was also historically a much more important cultural city for English Canada and also for the Anglosphere in general, with people like Mordecai Richler, Leonard Cohen and William Shatner hailing from the city.
But at the same time, Montreal has been meteorically ascendant as a major city of the French-speaking world. While it was once a mere afterthought if even thought of all, it's now on the cusp (if not already there) of being the number 2 francophone city in the developed western world (after Paris of course) in terms of demographics and migration, education, business and culture.
As they say, you win some and you lose some.